The Far-Ranging
Unicorn Clan
The mounted archers and warriors of the Unicorn Clan are unmatched, and the clan’s scouts and emissaries are the bridge between Rokugan and the wider world. A thousand years ago, the Unicorn Clan’s ancestors rode out of Rokugan, seeking to discover the wider world. Their journey was arduous, and they found many strange lands, some with new allies and others with new threats. Through their triumphs and tragedies, the clan stayed true to the driving curiosity that led its founder to chase the sun to the ends of the world. After eight centuries of wandering, the clan returned to the Empire, changed but stronger for their travels. Now, the Unicorn draw their strength from their unique customs and perspectives that originated beyond the Emerald Empire’s borders.
In the early days of the Empire, the clan’s founder, Shinjo, resolved to journey beyond its borders to discover and understand the dangers that lurked there before they could take Rokugan by surprise. She and her followers were gone for centuries, but they made good on their promise to one day return. Now, the Unicorn Clan continues its duty to safeguard Rokugan from external threats, but also continues to bring new goods, arts, and ideas into the Empire. Acting as ambassadors for Rokugan, the Unicorn Clan works to reach new lands, find allies in the wider world, bring new information the Empire, spread cultural awareness, and promote understanding. Almost all of Rokugan’s foreign relationships were established by the Unicorn Clan. To aid them in their journeys, the Unicorn maintain the most powerful cavalry force in all of Rokugan, and they also serve as horse breeders, steed trainers, bookkeepers, and traders.
Utaku
Kamoko
Utaku Kamoko is the commander of the Battle Maidens, one of the finest heavy cavalry units in the Empire known not only for their courage but also for their purity of heart. Despite her youth, she has already seen much fighting and has developed a reputation for being fierce and deadly on the battlefield.
Kamoko wants nothing more than to get revenge against Matsu Agetoki of the Lion Clan, the man who was responsible for killing her mother during a raid when she was a child. Kamoko’s aunt and daimyō, Utaku Rumaru, raised her to live by a strict code of chivalry and service, a code that tests her every day.
Until the day Kamoko proves herself worthy of becoming the Utaku daimyō, she rides in search of justice and vengeance.
the wind.”
Members of the Unicorn Clan tend to be very receptive to new ideas and cultural elements without fearing the loss or erosion of their own, for they preserved what was most precious of their own traditions throughout their long centuries of journeying beyond Rokugan’s bounds. As such, Unicorn Clan culture reflects the various cultures the Unicorn Clan encountered during its journeys, including foreign religions, languages, foods, traditions, etiquette, clothing, magic, weapons, and combat techniques.
Some samurai from other clans see the Unicorn as too changed by their travels to be fiercely loyal to the Emerald Empire, and some of them would be right. Having learned to see from various perspectives, the Unicorn Clan has vowed to follow its heart in matters of politics. Though many within the Emerald Empire see the outwardly acquired customs and values of the Unicorn Clan as irreconcilable differences to their own, others understand the true message behind the Unicorn: Differences among people can make a nation stronger, if only they are embraced.
The Shinjo Family
The horseback riders of the Shinjo are great archers and diplomats, and the family’s daimyō holds the title “Khan of Khans.”
The Ide Family
The insightful and charismatic Ide are the ambassadors and traders of the clan, both within Rokugan and along the Sand Road.
The Iuchi Family
The Iuchi family have mastered the mystic art called the Way of Names, which allows them to call upon powerful spirits housed within magic talismans.
The Moto Family
The Moto descend from the Ujik, a people from beyond the Plains of Wind and Stone. A family of these steppe nomads swore their service to Shinjo herself.
The Utaku Family
The Utaku family is known for its Battle Maidens, an elite order of warriors famed for their devotion to virtue and their majestic Utaku steeds.
The vast plains of the Unicorn might seem abandoned, but they are not empty: these grasslands are home to herds of wild ponies, deer, and countless other forms of wildlife. Roving between the clan’s traditional castles and villages are nomadic Unicorn bands, forever roaming the lands in search of a new adventure. The seat of the Shinjo family’s power, Far Traveler Castle, is so named due to the difficult journey required to reach it. The Unicorn’s most important port, the City of the Rich Frog, lies to the east beside the banks of the Drowned Merchant River. The westernmost edge of Rokugan is marked by the City of the Khan—Khanbulak—the chief holding of the Moto family and the beginning of the Sand Road.
